Paraguay found themselves one of the first teams to qualify for the quarter-finals as they made it two wins from two on the second day of play at the Junior Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Finals.

Not since 1989 have the Paraguayans competed at this tournament, a year which saw them qualify by virtue of hosting the event. However, the South Americans are keen to make a name for themselves in this year’s competition and booked their place in the knockout stages thanks to some impressive doubles from Adolfo Vallejo and Lucas Britez, clinching a 6-3 6-2 result.

Vallejo in particular has enjoyed a fine start to his week in Orlando, going undefeated in all of his four matches (two singles, two doubles) and underlined his importance to his team today with a 6-4 6-2 victory over Egypt’s Abd Elrahman Hassan.

The result came after Egypt had taken an early lead through Youssef Sadek, who emphatically beat Lucas Britez 6-2 6-0 in the first match of the day.

With the tie level at 1-1, Vallejo and Britez then combined well to clinch the all-important second point, a result that pleased their captain Gustavo Ramirez, as he admitted his side weren’t always at their best today.

“I think we were a little better yesterday, today we were a bit more erratic but, in the doubles, we were good and I’m glad we were able to clinch the decisive point,” said Ramirez.

“We are very united. We are always joking and laughing and therefore there isn’t as much pressure on the boys, they are able to go out onto court and enjoy it.”

“We are very happy that we are able to qualify for the knockout stages, two of our three players are playing at U16 level for the first time,” said Ramirez.

Tomorrow Paraguay will face Serbia in a match which will decide first and second in Group C as the Serbs overcame sixth seeds Australia to cement their qualification into the quarter finals.

In the Junior Fed Cup, it was another day of joy for Italy as they swept aside Peru 3-0 to secure their quarter finals spot.

Matilde Paoletti got the Italians off to a great start with a straight sets win over Peru’s Daianne Hayashida 6-3 7-5. This winning momentum was to continue, and Lisa Pigato racked up a 6-4 6-4 victory to put the tie to bed.

The Peruvians then did their best to earn a point for their troubles in the following doubles match, however, the fighting spirit was evident in this Italian side and, despite dropping a set in the doubles, their first of the tournament, Matilde Paoletti and Beatrice Ricci ran out eventual winners 6-1 3-6 10-7.

After the match, Italian captain Giovanni Paolisso was full of praise for his side’s energy in the sweltering Orlando conditions. “All three girls have played so well, it wasn’t easy to play today in the heat and the humidity here is very high. Taking this into account, I think the girls have been solid and played with a great energy both yesterday and today,” Paolisso told ITFtennis.com.

“I’ve known these girls for many years, we’ve trained together for a long time. For example, Beatrice I’ve known since she was 9 so I know her as a person and a player. They make my job very enjoyable.”

Looking ahead to their final group fixture, a clash with fellow unbeaten side, and top seeds Russa, Paolisso admitted sustaining his side’s unbeaten run would be tough. “We’ve had many matches with Russia,” he said. “We’ve never beaten them but here we have another opportunity. They won the European qualifying and have the chance to win it all but hey, tomorrow is another day and we’ll try to beat them!”

Russia themselves were in dominant form against Chinese Taipei today, taking all three points as they further justified their top seed status.